Aleuts

The Aleuts are the indigenous peoples of the Aleutian Islands of the US state of Alaska and Kamchatka in Russia. The Aleuts first made contact with the Russians during the late 18th century, and many were resettled in the Komandorski Islands of Russia and the Pribilof Islands of Alaska. After the arrival of Russian missionaries, the Aleuts were converted to Orthodox Christianity, following the Russian Orthodox Church. During World War II, both the Americans and Japanese interned the Aleuts, with 19 dying in Japanese POW camps in Hokkaido and 75 dying of starvation and disease while under American internment in Alaska. On 17 June 2017, the US government formally apologized for its treatment of the Aleuts during the war. In 2010, 17,000 Aleuts lived in the USA and 482 in Russia. The Aleuts either followed animism or Russian Orthodoxy.